Morning roundup: The final knockout

Jan. 13, 2013

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This was why San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh made the midseason change from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick at quarterback.

As Press-Gazette reporter Pete Dougherty writes, though the second-year pro Kaepernick made a colossal error early in the game, his combination of halfback-like running ability and legitimate NFL throwing talent was more than the Green Bay Packers could handle in the 49ers’ 45-31 win at Candlestick Park in the divisional round of the playoffs.

In back-to-back seasons, the Packers have been knocked out of the divisional round decisively — last year it was in a 37-20 loss at home to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

“We did not do a very good job keeping (Kaepernick) in the pocket,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “He was able to get it out of the pocket for a number of big conversions there in the first half. We weren’t able to get off the field. Tried to make some adjustments in our pass-rush lanes and so forth and did not accomplish that. I was concerned at halftime frankly with the time of possession the 49ers had over us. We obviously didn’t handle the quarterback runs from out of the pocket.”

*The Packers being dispatched from the playoffs in the divisional round for the second consecutive seasons knocks them out of being among the NFC elite, opines Press-Gazette sports editor Mike Vandermause (http://tinyurl.com/aash6hr).

*San Francisco second-year quarterback Colin Kaepernick put together a historic showing at the expense of the Packers’ defense on Saturday. When it was over, they didn’t know what hit them, writes Press-Gazette reporter Rob Demovsky (http://tinyurl.com/apyduem).

*Packers veteran wide receivers Greg Jennings and Donald Driver may have played their final game with the Packers on Saturday night, along with other notes on Jeremy Ross’ fumble and John Dorsey’s hiring as Kansas City general manager (http://tinyurl.com/cd58ho4).